Waiting For Our Plane at JFK

We are sitting at the airport waiting for our flight. A recent storm just rolled through and it has delayed a number of flights. Hopefully, our flight is still on schedule; however, I refuse to check the board until our departure time gets closer.
Our latest addition to Jordanwood is a couple of beautiful pieces of porcelain by Minh Long from Vietnam. An additional piece shows a little boy doing calligraphy with a brush while being supervised by a little girl.
Deanna and I are tired and looking forward to getting home. The 6+ hour flight will give us a chance to catch up a couple of our orders that we need to place after we get home.

Day Six of the New York Gift Show

Well the show is final over and thank goodness there will be six months to allow us to recuperate before the next one. Most of today was spent putting the finishing touches on our Christmas merchandise. One of the last of many additions is pictured above - Girl and Boy Angel by Boehm Porcelain. Boehm is a long-standing U.S. manufacturer of fine porcelain and we hope this will be just one of many of their pieces that we will bring to Jordanwood.
Tomorrow we get to sleep in a bit later, have a somewhat relaxing day and then we leave Manhattan and are off to JFK for the flight home.
If I don’t have a chance to blog tomorrow at the airport I will get back to it as soon as my feet hit the ground and I catch my breath from this trip.
It has been a wonderful trip.

Day Five of the New York Gift Show

As many of you already know, for a number of years we have carried fantastic shaving products by Edwin Jagger in England. This year Neil has introduced their first line of after-shave lotions to complement their shaving cream and soap lines. Pictured above is the new after-shave lotion line which includes the fragrances of Seabuckthorn, Sandalwood and Aloe. These after-shave lotions will soon be in our store for that discerning man who may already be using products from the Edwin Jagger line.

Day Four of the New York Gift Show

I thought we would have a picture of some new products for this blog entry. We did order several new items today, but their respective pictures will have to wait. As you can see the West Side Story Playbill took precedent. We started the evening with dinner at Virgil’s Real Barbecue Home Cooking on W44 Street. As you might expect, it was delicious. After dinner we hustled down to the theater – after some of my misdirection, we arrived. (Of course, my excuse is that the theater’s address is stated on the tickets as Broadway but it really is on 7th Avenue.)
The musical was fantastic, especially the dancing and the individual performance by Josefina Scaglione as Maria and Karen Olivo as Anita. (I had seen Karen in The Heights a year or so ago in which she was awesome as well).
As we were walking back to the hotel we started to see lightening in the sky. When we got to our room huge booms of thunder started – and the rain is now a gully washer. It is beautiful – but tomorrow it will be humid.
Speaking of tomorrow - More Shopping.
I know I won’t get the pictures of our new products in the blog while we are still in Manhattan so many of the pictures will wait until we get back to California.

Day Three of the New York Gift Show

We’re getting tired but we just keep on going like a Worn Down Energizer Bunny. We ordered a number of items today from current and new suppliers. Pictured above is one of a new line of Italian puzzles. In addition, from the New York Puzzle Company, we ordered a number of puzzles with various vintage themes from Popular Mechanics, The New Yorker, Good Housekeeping, and House Beautiful. All the puzzles will be fun as well as a challenge to put together.
For dinner tonight, sorry no picture, we had buttered fettuccine, chicken saltimbocca (chicken with prosciutto on a bed of spinach), and finished with tiramisu.

Day Two of the New York Gift Show

We walked our feet off but we are going through a rapid recovery. It’s amazing what a shower, a good glass of wine and a nap will do. Saw a number of new items that in all likelihood will make their way into the store, so stay tuned during the next several blogs to keep up on what is happening.
One of our wonderful suppliers is Napa Soap out of… you guessed it, Napa, California. These are handmade in small batches in the heart of the Napa Valley with grapeseed oil and wine. Some of the new items we will be adding to this line include Ladies Shaving Soap with Brush, Brown Sugar Body Butters, a couple of new lotions and several new bar soaps (White Jasmine, Mandarin Chardonnay, Clean-O Noir and Lavender Cedar). They should arrive within the next week so come in soon to check them out.
More tomorrow.

Day One of the New York Gift Show

Last night we did make it to Junior’s and had the best combination pastrami and corned beef Reuben topped off with the famous Junior’s original cheesecake. If you ever have a chance to hit Junior’s when you are in New York City, we would highly recommend it. After gorging ourselves on dinner we went to the AMC 25 movie theater in Times Square and saw Julie and Julia. Great, great movie – (5 stars and 2 thumbs up). Now we have to buy Julia’s cookbooks and turn our Sundays into French cooking days.
We walked the Handmade and At Home sections of the gift show today. Saw a number of new items that we are considering for the store. More on these new items as we progress on our decision making this week. In addition, we met with a number of our current suppliers and placed some orders.
We had planned to start this blog entry off with a picture of a product but we got hooked on a great dinner tonight. So we had to show a picture, (though the picture doesn't do it justice), of the great tasting and beautifully presented Lamb Shank with Soft Polenta and Baby Carrots from Saju Bistro in Manhattan. Though not shown, since we ate it before remembering to take a picture, we also had Panna Cotta with Figs, (in fact we started with this desert first), Chilled Cucumber Soup, Baby Greens with Goat Cheese and Figs, Crab Cakes, the Lamb Shank, and finally Chocolate Mousse and Coffee. We did share everything so we weren’t complete gluttons.
I promise that the next blog entry will be more about the show and less about the food.

Here We Are In The Big Apple

We made it! The red-eye was wonderful if you enjoy being in a can of sardines. You know how you can’t find a comfortable position so it is nearly impossible to sleep? Well, the flight, though only 5 hours long, seemed like it would never end. But, it did and it was worth it. We’re here - the weather is beautiful – not too hot and not too humid. The weather is supposed to be getting a little warmer with a few showers.
Tomorrow we hit the Gift Show so we will have an exciting picture or two to share with news about some new products we have seen.
We’re going in search of a fabulous dinner tonight. After all, we are in New York and pastrami and cheesecake at Junior’s is calling; and, later we hope to catch a movie.

Soy Candles from Makana and Our San Francisco Trip

Last Sunday Deanna and I took the day to visit the San Francisco Gift Show. First, it is always wonderful to spend time in San Francisco for whatever reason. Second, though the show was small compared to what we will see in New York later this week, we had a wonderful time discovering some new possibilities for the store. One of the items that will soon be in the store is pictured above. The Makana soy candles are made by a small “mom and pop” company down in southern California and will be available in a number of different fragrances including a “non-fragrance”.
We also had an opportunity to visit with a number of our current suppliers including Menus and Music – cookbooks with music, Café d’Amore – delicious hot cocoa and sipping chocolate drinks, Tampopo - Japanese tea pots and cups, Holztiger – wonderful German wooden animals, Green Hill Music - great music CDs, Kubla – for those beautiful little boxes, and several others. So you can count on the fact that many of our most popular lines will continue to have a presence in the store.
In conjunction with the gift show the Gourmet Housewares Show was going on. Again we saw lots of great stuff, but we just aren’t a kitchen store. We did see some gift items that may find their way to our store.

Doggie Fire Hydrant Cookie Jar

This piece is just one of many from Elias Ceramics depicting whimsical and happy little dogs and cats. Each piece begins with a hand drawn design, which is then hand painted, and finished with a clear glaze. The line we carry at Jordanwood includes cookie jars, bowls, ornaments and mugs. The finish is dinnerware safe and nontoxic. Handmade in the U.S.A.. Come by and see these delightful little pieces.